Mithi, Desire & Dream

I was worried when we arrived at the airport. My painkiller might not see me through the wait and the trip to Bohol. For the first time I longed for the wheelchair because I really needed it this one time. Not only did the wheelchair come on time, we — my husband, son and I — even discovered the IPL or Individual Passenger Lift for Persons with Disability who cannot take the stairs. You go to the other side of the airplane and step into something similar to a cube that lifts you up and you enter through the other side of where ordinary passengers enter. It’s great! Makes you feel like a princess instead of a PWD.

Maybe that’s the way I should describe my most recent trip to Bohol. It made me feel like royalty. From the Panglao International Airport we drove to a mysterious place called Mithi, the Tagalog word for a combination of desire and dreaming. When you tell a beloved, “Minimithi kita,” you are saying I desire you and dream of you all the time.

When we got off at the lobby we saw a beautiful view of the sea, a combination of antique and new furniture that seemed to meld into each other, even a tasteful wall full of antique saints but unobtrusively placed.

It’s like being on three levels. The lobby being the highest point that looked down on a lovely eternity pool, that looked down on the sea, where there was an islet, a small man-made island, built for events. Two weddings had their receptions there with their guests ferried in by boat. It was fabulously romantic.

To get to your room you ride a buggy, which is like an extended golf cart though you can really walk over. But walking would not be suitable for princesses so we would call for the buggy all the time.

But that was not all. We had made reservations for ordinary rooms but because of the coronavirus tourists had cancelled their reservations so we were upgraded to a villa. A villa is like having your own little home facing the sea. It was surrounded with porches and comfortable chairs, lush landscaping to give you privacy, a Jacuzzi of your own, a king-size orthopedic bed that absolutely comforted the pain in my hip, and a revolving TV set that could make you watch either from your bed or from the divan on the other side.

There were high ceilings and lots of glass to make you see the wonderful view even if you had the air-conditioner on. It had a lovely bathroom with a gorgeous long rectangular sink for two people and a floor-to-ceiling glass panel for the shower where, if you felt like showing off to plants, you could take your shower or you could lower the floor-to-ceiling panel and not let any voyeurs get a peep.

Loy and I stayed indoors most of the time. Mithi was originally the name of their spa, while they called the rest of the resort Panglao Environmental Resort or something like that but that name was a mouthful. They decided to call the entire resort Mithi.

The food is also outstanding. In addition to all of the above they have a good, big souvenir shop where I could finally buy myself a bathing suit I liked and a pair of white linen pants I had been looking for for a long time. I paid less than one thousand pesos for both pieces together. Delightful for me. As I grow older I seem to be growing stingier.

‘‘I love this place. How much do you think it will cost us to spend one whole month living here?’’ I asked Loy as we sat on the porch watching people going to a wedding on the islet by boat. ‘‘A lot of money we probably don’t have,’’ he teased.

‘‘But I haven’t even tried the Jacuzzi,’’ I said. ‘‘I can’t try it until my hip is well. I might be able to get in but I doubt if I can get out without screaming in agony. We haven’t even tried the spa. Did you see the game room? We haven’t even seen what we can play.’’

“As far as I’m concerned, we can play everything we want to in this room,’’ Loy says.

‘‘We’re leaving tomorrow, so very soon. Too soon,‘‘I lament. ‘‘How about spending a week? Can we afford to spend a week?’’

Loy didn’t say anything.

We went to Bohol to celebrate the birthday of Albert and the 40th wedding anniversary of Albert and Inday Yap. And we all had the time of our lives in Mithi. If you want a really wonderful holiday in Bohol, go to Mithi. It’s worth every cent. You won’t regret it. In fact you will always desire and dream about it. You will always make it mithi.

* * *

Please text your comments to 0998-991-2287.